United Kingdom Approves Leases for 15 Offshore Wind Power Projects

The United Kingdom's Crown Estate announced in late December that it
had accepted bids for 15 wind energy projects off the U.K. coast. The
Crown Estate owns the seabed surrounding the United Kingdom and is
offering to lease the offshore property to the wind energy developers
for 40 to 50 years. The 15 projects still need to pass environmental
assessments and obtain approval and financing for their projects, but
if all are built, their peak generating capacity could total
7,200 megawatts, equal to 7 percent of Britain's electricity load. The
developers have until January 20th to accept the lease offers. See the
announcements from the Crown Estate and the British Wind Energy Association. Maps of the proposed wind facility sites are available online on the Crown Estate Web site.

The news is sure to be a discussion topic at "Global WINDPOWER 2004,"
a wind energy conference and exhibition to be held in Chicago from
March 28th to the 31st. The American Wind Energy Association is
presenting the event, which is co-sponsored by DOE. See the
conference Web site.